BEP LAUNCHES EYENOTE APP TO HELP THE BLIND

The Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP) has developed a free downloadable application (app) to assist the blind and visually impaired denominate US currency. The app is called EyeNote™. EyeNote™ is a mobile device app designed for Apple iPhone (3G, 3Gs, 4), and the 4th Generation iPod Touch and iPad2 platforms, and is available starting today through the Apple iTunes App Store.

EyeNote™ uses image recognition technology to determine a note's denomination. The mobile device's camera requires 51 percent of a note's scanned image, front or back, to process. In a matter of seconds, EyeNote™ can provide an audible or vibrating response, and can denominate all Federal Reserve notes issued since 1996. Free downloads will be available whenever new US currency designs are introduced. Research indicates that more than 100,000 blind and visually impaired individuals currently own an Apple iPhone.

The EyeNoteTM app is one of a variety of measures the government is working to deploy to assist the visually impaired community to denominate currency, as proposed in a recent Federal Register notice. These measures include implementing a Currency Reader Program whereby a United States resident, who is blind or visually impaired, may obtain a coupon that can be applied toward the purchase of a device to denominate United States currency; continuing to add large high contrast numerals and different background colors to redesigned currency; and, raised tactile features may be added to redesigned currency, which would provide users with a means of identifying each denomination via touch.

More information is available at www.eyenote.gov or through email at eyenote@bep.gov.

To read the complete press release, see: Bureau of Engraving and Printing Launches EyeNote™App to Help the Blind and Visually Impaired Denominate US Currency (www.moneyfactory.gov/images/EyeNote_Press_Release_4_4-19_2_4.pdf)

• OneTouch, hand-held operation.
• Face or back of note to camera.
• Partial note recognition (note can be handheld).
• Any circular orientation.
• No equipment modification, special background materials or special lighting required.
• Camera flash is not required.
• No data connection required - all processing on device.
• Currency designs from Series 1996 and forward.
• Note can be on a complex background.
• 2-4 second response time.
• User selectable spoken output English or Spanish, based on device language setting.
• Spoken mode also indicates the front or back of note to assist in vending use.
• Privacy mode when discretion is needed uses vibrations on the iPhones and audible tones on iPod Touch and iPad2.
  • One Dollar is 1 pulse.
  • Two Dollars is 2 pulses.
  • Five Dollars is 3 pulses.
  • Ten Dollars is 4 pulses.
  • Twenty Dollars is 5 pulses.
  • Fifty Dollars is 6 pulses.
  • One Hundred Dollars is 7 pulses
  • Error, reposition is 8 rapid pulses.
• Does not authenticate real notes from counterfeit.

To read the complete brochure, see: The EyeNote™ App (www.eyenote.gov/EyeNote_Brochure_V10.pdf)

Wayne Homren, Editor

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